Cancer Support Group: Impressions 10/27/2016
                Cancer, are we winning yet?  Yes and no.  So many new cases of cancer year after year affecting so many of us.  You might want to read a little about cancer, the incidents of expected new cases in the coming years.  The American Cancer Society (cancer.org)  has website w/pages and pages of information.  Just looking at it might be unsettling. Just admitting that its all around us is tough.  A patient has to trust a doctor, the medical profession as well as to navigate through advice from family.
                Patients present with different attitudes about the medical professions, oncology being one that carries some stereotypes.  Patients carry their attitudes openly at times.  Doctors react well in most situations.  Ask  yourself, “How do  you want your doctor to react to you?”  What attitudes do you present?  Scared is a normal emotion like fear and anxiety.  Attitudes also set the tone in doctor’s offices.  They can start in the waiting room.  Who hasn’t experienced excessive waiting times?  Ever watch someone with an attitude at ’the window’? 
                You are as important as other patients.  You have an appointment.  You are on time.  You fill out forms.  Now you wait to see the doctor.  A staff professional takes you back to an inner office for weighting, blood pressure, pulse, questions updating your medical history which you just updated in the waiting room, or the dreaded ‘lab work.’  But you haven’t seen the doctor yet or maybe he/she is talking to another patient at the check out window down the hall, or holding a cup of coffee talking to staff in a doorway.  What do you think?  Is the doctor wasting your time?  When will he/she get to you?  Now you’re being led to another office.  “Wait here, the doctor will be in soon.”  We’ve all heard those words many times.  Calm and pleasant?  You’re ready.  Maybe pull out your list of questions - a good idea if you tend to get overwhelmed by the time the doctor finishes the session.  Maybe a good idea is to hit the doctor with, “I have some questions I’d like to ask when you can take them.”  We all respect what the doctor needs to do in the time allotted.  And, there is a time allotted. 
                Its all part of the process of getting the treatment we need to become a survivor.  We need and maybe want some sympathy along the way.  The best sympathy may be competence and efficiency - plus a kind word.  Make the most of every visit with your doctor.  Help them be efficient with your time.   You have important decisions to make.  If you think a doctor appointment has to be 30 minutes, ask if that much time is available. I don’t know what answer you will get because I’ve never asked the question.  But I know one thing, if everyone got 30 minutes with the doctor, my waiting time will double and I’ve already read all the sports magazines in the waiting room (every doctor appointment is a golf lesson in disguise).
                We all want the truth and nothing but the truth.  Well, maybe.  How does this play into why the Cancer Support Group operates the way it does?  We are cancer survivors, caregivers who have given years of their lives to loved ones, and family and friends who come for support.  There’s a lot of experience in the room.  We pay a lot of attention to each other,  and even more attention to first-timers.  We also have medical professionals in the group who are cancer survivors or caregivers.
                Cancer is so serious, scary and unpredictable that we can’t hide our fears and other emotions very well.  Newcomers may be somewhat tentative when talking with the group for the first time.  We get it.  We react accordingly which might mean being a little tentative, not wanting to say or do anything that might embarrass or challenge the person.  We struggle with the big question, “Are we helping or not?” We only have a few seconds or minutes to assess the newcomer.  Every thing we do, we try to do for the newcomer. 
                Being a self-help group we can be more casual, friendly and conversational than a doctor‘s office.  Attitudes about doctors and their staffs may not come out in the first meeting  But they are important.  Things happen, problems arise.  We talk about what matters to you.
                If any of this sounds like something that might help you, visit us on the 4^th Thursday of each month - schedule is always in the bulletin. We thank you for praying for us.  We invite your feedback.  jamesermis@yahoo.com or cell: 616-1129.  God bless you.                                    A people who believe and belong - The Kingdom of God is where you are.